a world of café stories

Sensory Lab, Melbourne

By KENNY MAH and CK LIM

Usually the sort of cafés we frequent are those that are outside the city centre, hidden in suburbia where rental is more affordable. Even when we discover excellent coffee haunts within the city, they are in tiny standalone outlets. So it’s rare to find a decent espresso bar cum “brew laboratory” in a departmental store, to say the least.

Sensory Lab Roastery, an Australian roaster headed by Ross Quail, has its retail outlet in David Jones at Little Collins St. This is our first coffee stop in Melbourne, and initially we had trouble locating the place as we were looking out for a more “indie” kinda venue.

The clean lines of the shop help lend an authentic laboratory-like ambience to their quest to experiment with “the world’s best beans, from rare single origins to award winning green beans.”

Their bean of the day is a single origin Costa Rica Finca Fidel. If you’ve only had blends for your espresso, do try a single origin for a more distinctive flavour. Our flat white and cappuccino are smooth and chocolatey. What better way to kick-start our Aussie café-hopping adventure than with these easy-to-drink cups?

[…] Sensory Lab The clean lines of Sensory Lab Roastery help lend a laboratory-like ambience to their quest to experiment with “the world’s best beans, from rare single origins to award winning green beans.” […]